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Cocktail O'Clock: Raoul's Bar, Oxford

Tuesday, 21 February 2017

Exploring the cocktail bars in Oxford doesn't happen a whole lot for me; usually because I'm not in Oxford to try them. But the other day my friend and I arranged to go for a catch up and went to Raoul's Bar in Jericho, which I've been wanting to try for aaaaagessss.

The 'Berry Cobbler'

We ended up staying for a while so had about 3 cocktails each; I went for the Berry Cobbler first, which is very fruity and looks gorgeous as all the berries are dusted in icing sugar...it's very drinkable! Second was the Jam Jar Hand Shandy, which was a bit stronger, but as there was a lot of crushed ice in it, it diluted quickly and then became more drinkable - I'm not a huge fan of cocktails where you can clearly taste the spirit which is really strong, prefer a bit more of a blend - with a sweet flavour; and then lastly the Mint Julep drink which I expected to be a bit like a mojito or like the Jumbled Julep at Turtle Bay - it wasn't. It's prettyyyy strong, and has a fair bit of bourbon in it which isn't usually my spirit of choice. However, there is a ton of ice with it again which helps, and aside from the strong taste of bourbon (which did go down) it was pretty nice!

The 'Jam Jar Hand Shandy'

The prices of the cocktails were usually around £6-7 each, which isn't too bad, considering that's similar to what'd you pay for a spirit and mixer in London! I think you get a lot for your money, and we ended up spending about £20 each, which I was quite happy with!

The 'Mint Julep'

What I really loved about Raoul's is not only the relaxed and fun vibe of the place, but the novelties. Their menu is all their own, and you can only view it when you're there - it's not online! They have a tonnnnn of different cocktails which you're unlikely to have ever heard of, and the way they present them is so cool and quirky; case in point above, as the Mint Julep was served in an old Lyle's Golden Syrup tin!